PLJ 2017 Islamabad 370
PLD 2012 · Islamabad High Court
This case was about a dispute over elections for the managing committee of the Islamabad Farming Cooperative Housing Society. Several groups of petitioners challenged different aspects of the election process in four separate petitions heard together by the Islamabad High Court.
The core dispute was whether the Registrar of Cooperative Societies had the legal authority to scrap the entire election process. One petitioner argued the Registrar had no power to do this on his own initiative, since neither the Cooperative Societies Act, 1925 nor the election rules explicitly granted such suo moto authority. Other petitioners raised separate issues, including whether nomination papers were properly scrutinized, whether certain candidates were valid members of the society, and whether the election schedule was issued by the proper authority.
The court found that the election schedule had been issued solely by the Election Commissioner rather than by the full three-member Election Commission as required by the rules, making it unlawful. It also found that the Election Commission failed to prepare and notify a list of eligible voters within the required ten-day period, a serious irregularity. The court held that the Registrar did have authority under Section 64-A of the Act to examine the legality of the election process and was within his rights to scrap it. The court ordered fresh elections to be held within 45 days, with compliance reported back to the court. This case matters because it clarifies regulators' oversight powers over cooperative society elections and reinforces that procedural rules must be strictly followed.
یہ مقدمہ اسلام آباد فارمنگ کوآپریٹو ہاؤسنگ سوسائٹی کی مینجنگ کمیٹی کے انتخابات سے متعلق ایک تنازعے پر مبنی تھا۔ درخواست گزاروں کے مختلف گروہوں نے انتخابی عمل کے مختلف پہلوؤں کو چار الگ الگ درخواستوں کے ذریعے چیلنج کیا، جنہیں اسلام آباد ہائی کورٹ نے اکٹھا سنا۔
تنازعے کا بنیادی نکتہ یہ تھا کہ کیا رجسٹرار کوآپریٹو سوسائٹیز کو یہ قانونی اختیار حاصل تھا کہ وہ پورے انتخابی عمل کو کالعدم قرار دے دے۔ ایک درخواست گزار کا موقف تھا کہ رجسٹرار کو از خود ایسا کرنے کا کوئی اختیار نہیں تھا، کیونکہ نہ تو کوآپریٹو سوسائٹیز ایکٹ 1925 اور نہ ہی انتخابی قواعد میں اسے واضح طور پر از خود (سو موٹو) اختیار دیا گیا تھا۔ دیگر درخواست گزاروں نے الگ نوعیت کے مسائل اٹھائے، جن میں یہ شامل تھا کہ آیا کاغذاتِ نامزدگی کی مناسب جانچ پڑتال کی گئی تھی، کیا بعض امیدوار سوسائٹی کے جائز رکن تھے، اور کیا انتخابی شیڈول م